Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Sinbei City mayoral candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday attended the first large-scale campaign event organized by the party’s Taipei County branch, targeting attacks at his rival, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Accompanied by Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), who was persuaded to withdraw from the competition by senior party officials, Chu promised to establish Sinbei as a competitive city with the construction of several MRT lines over the next 10 years.
“Sinbei City will be as competitive as Taipei City. I will devote all my effort to the development of the city, and will be a mayor who cooperates with both central and local governments,” he said in Taipei County’s administrative capital, Banciao.
Chu also promised not to use the position of Sinbei mayor as a springboard for the presidential election in 2012, something he said Tsai was certain to do.
“We do not want a mayor who leaves to campaign in 2012, and we do not want a mayor who will confront the central government and refuse to cooperate with our neighbors in Taipei City and Taoyuan City,” he added.
Tsai announced her intention to run in Sinbei City last night. Since former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) declared his intention to run in the Taipei City mayoral race, many DPP figures had urged Tsai to represent the party in the Sinbei race.
Chou cited municipal projects in Taipei County, including the dredging of the Danshui River and assured supporters that Chu would continue such programs and work hard to improve the competitiveness of the county after it is upgraded into Sinbei City in December.
The outgoing commissioner declined to confirm whether or not he would serve as campaign manager for Chu’s election team, but said he will continue to work as a “volunteer” and campaign for Chu.
Chu thanked Chou for his full support and putting party unity first. He also said the two men would unite during the election campaign to stop rivals from using their previous competition as a smear campaign against him.
Elections for the heads of five special municipalities will take place on Nov. 27 in Taipei City, Sinbei City (the upgraded Taipei County), Greater Taichung (a merger of Taichung City and Taichung County), Greater Tainan (a merger of Tainan City and Tainan County) and Greater Kaohsiung (a merger of Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County).
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS